Slauson Abandon Rail Being Transformed Into A Bike/Pedestrian Path

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) announced that it was awarded a $15 million by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Act (TIGER) VII grant for construction of the Rail to Rail Active Transportation Corridor Connector Project.

The Rail to Rail project will transform a 6.4 mile stretch of minimally active Metro-owned rail right of way called the Harbor Subdivision into a bicycle and pedestrian path. The project parallels Slauson Avenue in South Los Angeles connecting the future Metro Crenshaw/LAX Line’s Fairview Heights Station with the Metro Silver Line at the I-110 freeway and the Metro Blue Line Station, ending at Santa Fe Avenue.

“Metro has already successfully re-purposed little-used or abandoned rights-of-ways into bicycle and pedestrian routes, notably the Metro Orange Line, the Bellflower Bike Trail and the Chandler Bikeway in Burbank, and Rail to Rail will bring similar benefits to South L.A. residents.” said Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington.

The Rail to Rail corridor is home to about 108,000 residents and has a population density more than six times the county average. Over two-thirds of the area residents are minority; more than one-fifth of the households within ½ mile of the project corridor do not own a vehicle and 16.8 percent of the area workers commute to work via public transit, bicycle and/or walking.